Scientists are at the forefront of landmark research that could help spare 300 families the trauma of stillbirth every year.

An Edinburgh University study is looking at using MRI scans to detect low oxygen levels of babies in the womb, thought to be a major factor in stillbirths.

Professor of maternal and foetal health Jane Norman said: “The idea is to tell when a baby is short of oxygen with a non-invasive scan. You could then intervene and deliver the baby to prevent stillbirth.

“These things take a while to work out effectively but every major teaching hospital in the country has MRI machines so, if we find it’s effective, it could be widely used.

“Another project under way, by a colleague of mine, is looking to understand genetic causes behind stillbirth.

“Some things you can’t do anything about but we are working on helping women to stop smoking during pregnancy and we can closely monitor women who are obese.”

Around 300 babies are stillborn in Scotland every year, around one in 200 pregnancies.

She said: “The Back To Sleep cot campaign dramatically reduced the rate of cot death to around 35-50 per year in Scotland. But there are 300 stillbirths and 300 neonatal deaths (in the first week of life).

“Most people are surprised by this figure as stillbirth is not usually openly discussed.

“The feeling has perhaps been that women should not be upset by stillbirths because ‘we cannot do anything about them’.

“Recent experience is disproving this theory.

“We need more awareness from both mothers and health professionals about who is at risk and consistent monitoring and subsequent management of high-risk cases.”

Among the areas being looked at are placenta abnormalities and if the baby is particularly large or very small.

If tests identified a woman at high risk of stillbirth, her baby could be delivered early to save its life.

Danielle Davidson, 18, lives in Stanley, Perth, with partner Dean, 17, 19-week-old daughter Emily and her parents. She lost her son Jack in October 2010, six months into her pregnancy.

Danielle said: “I was 16 and still at school when I found out I was pregnant.

“I was absolutely terrified but we decided straight away we would never get rid of the baby.”

At 26 weeks, Danielle went for a routine check-up at the teenage mum support class she attended. But the midwife couldn’t find her baby’s heartbeat.

She said: “I had never been so scared in my whole life.

“The doctor said he wanted to do a scan and the midwife told me, ‘Danielle, I don’t know if it’s going to be good or not.’

“As soon as she said that, I knew and my knees went from under me. I fell on to the floor and cried.”

Danielle was sent home that night before being admitted to hospital the following day to be induced.

She said: “I was so grateful that I got that last night.

“The whole night, me and Dean cried and held my baby.

“I kept thinking, ‘Come on, please kick, so I can phone them and tell them you’re OK.’”

Danielle was given drugs to kick-start labour – but within moments she had gone into cardiac arrest.

She said: “I reacted badly to the drugs and my body went into shock. My lips turned blue and I stopped breathing. A crash team were there in seconds, trying to resuscitate me.

“When I came to, I remember saying, ‘I need to push.’ Ten minutes later and Jack was born.

“Even though I knew he was gone, I kept thinking, ‘Why isn’t he crying, why can’t I hear my baby cry?’

“It took a while to realise he wasn’t going to wake up, he wasn’t going to cry.”

The terrified teenager was initially scared to even look at her baby.

She said: “Eventually I opened my eyes and saw him. He was so tiny and perfect. My tiny, silent baby.

“He had 10 fingers and 10 toes and he only weighed 1lb 1oz.”

Danielle took her baby home for one night, to spend precious time with him.

She said: “I had to take him back after one night but the funeral director wasn’t going to pick him up for a week.

“I didn’t want him to be on his own so every single day I went back and forward to the hospital, just to be with him and to hold him.”

Last year, Danielle fell pregnant again and Emily was born safely.

She said: “When I held her, it was the biggest relief in the world. Words can’t describe how I felt when I held her on my chest. It was the best moment of my life, to hear her cry and see her look at me.

“She proved to me that miracles can happen.”

Danielle has struggled to cope since she lost Jack – and found many of her friends didn’t understand her pain.

She said: “I lost a lot of friends who couldn’t understand why I didn’t get on with my life.

“They thought I never met him, but I bonded with him the whole pregnancy. I can’t forget him.

“Everybody knows about cot death but hardly anybody understands about stillbirth.

“Nobody talks about it but, for me, talking is the best relief.

“The only way I can keep Jack’s memory alive is by talking and I feel like it’s my responsibility to keep his memory alive.”

We could not bear the thought of leaving Iris alone in hospital

Sarah Brown, 29, lives in Dumfries with husband Colin and sons Owen, five, and Xander, three. Her daughter Iris was stillborn in April 2010. Sarah is now 30 weeks pregnant with her fourth child.

Sarah said: “Xander was born very premature.

“I was so petrified about having another premature baby, that’s all I was concerned about.”

Sarah was relieved as her pregnancy progressed towards her due date and didn’t think there could be any complications.

Then two days before she was due to be induced – and nine days overdue – she finally went into labour.

Sarah had trouble pushing and her midwife summoned help. Iris, who weighed 11lb 9oz, had got stuck during delivery due to a rare medical emergency called shoulder dystocia.

Sarah said: “When Iris was born, they quickly realised she wasn’t breathing and whisked her away. A midwife literally grabbed her off my chest and ran out the room.”

For 58 minutes, the doctors tried in vain to resuscitate Iris.

When the baby was brought back into the room, Sarah clung to her. She and Colin took Iris home for five days – to spend as much time with her as they could.

She said: “People thought it was strange but it was best for us. We couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her alone in hospital, in the morgue.”

Owen and Xander got to hold their baby sister and Sarah cherishes family photos of her three children together. She said: “I want the boys to know they had a sister.

“They know now she’s up in heaven with the angels. She’s our little angel.

“There will always be a gaping hole in our lives and we can never replace Iris. But hopefully this new baby will give us a reason to smile.”

I told Grace and saw her heart break

Emma McCarroll, 32, lives in Cupar, Fife, with husband Tommy, 38, and their children – Grace, six, Tom, five, and five-week old Rory. Her baby daughter Catriona was stillborn in November 2009.

Emma said: “I woke up on my due date and it was the first time I had overslept. She hadn’t kicked me to wake me up as usual.